AUSTRALIA

Chelsea BentonMelbourne, Australia

Chelsea Benton first developed a love for the practice of Yoga in 2003. Her Yoga journey has taken her through a variety of different practice styles and teachers. With appreciation for her certified training from Mark Whitwell (Heart of Yoga), Peter Cohen (ATYOGA), Stewart Allen (The Body Yoga Studio).

Chelsea received her Yoga teaching certification from The Body Yoga Studio in 2008 and has been mentored by Peter Cohen since early 2009. Her teaching experience includes many centres throughout Melbourne and The Dandenong Ranges, including Awakening Tree Yoga, Body Yoga Studio, Magpie House, Monbulk Aquatic Centre and various community centres.

Chelsea has been moving in intimacy with her breath & body for as long as she can remember. She has always felt a great need for connection, expression & flow from the earliest of times. Initially through dance and then Yoga. It is through the Heart of Yoga teachings that she has realized a deeper gratitude & connection with herself, the world and the gift of every day life. Chelsea takes this supportive connection of Hatha Yoga & allows it to enrich and fertilize the roots of all aspects of her teaching, life as a mother, and passion as a singer/songwriter, having also now successfully completed the ‘Foundations In Music Performance’ course with the Victorian College of the Arts in 2011.

Peter CohenMelbourne, Australia

Peter is an internationally recognised master yoga teacher who has studied extensively in the teachings of T. Krishnamacharya under master teachers Mark Whitwell (Heart of Yoga) and Nicky Knoff (senior Iyengar and Ashtanga teacher). Twice RYT 500hr+ certified, Peter has taught yoga for over a decade. Also trained in traditional Tibetan yoga by Lama Urgyen Yeshe Ozer, Peter was a resident meditation and yoga teacher at Odiyana Buddhist Centre for four years before founding Awakening Tree Yoga. Worldwide, Peter is the only highly accredited yogi who is also a certified Feldenkrais movement specialist. A certified Reiki master and NLP practitioner, Peter teaches in Melbourne, Sydney, Bali and Fiji.

Lauren Falconer Sydney, Australia

Lauren is the founder of the Life Pod Yoga Studio and Holistic Center in Paddington. She has been teaching yoga in Sydney for over 10 years and comes from an acting and dance background. She is a Hatha Yoga teacher with a focus on flowing practices, moving with and for the breath, alignment and developing core connection. Lauren encourages students to always take into consideration how they feel day to day and moment to moment in order to practice consciously, with intention and connected to their greater mind.Through her work at the Life Pod she has become known as one of Sydney’s leading Pre-natal/Post-natal yoga teachers. She is also a qualified calmbirth® Practitioner, Doula, Private Subconscious Mind Therapist and mother.

Her influences consist of many diverse styles and brilliant teachers which over the years have helped her to create a confident, flowing and supportive practice.

Nadine FawellMelbourne, Australia

“Yoga changed my life! I walked into my first yoga class depressed and …podgy, and from that very first class I have known that yoga is It for me. It is the best tool I have ever found to feel my connection with the outside world, with my body, and with my internal landscape. Ten years on, I’m still in love with yoga and teaching it all day every day. Also, I’m not depressed or…uncomfortable in my body anymore!

I am very interested in how the practices of yoga can help us experience the inherent pleasure of being alive.”

Cecile Galiazzo NSW, Australia

“The first Yoga book I read was Autobiography of a Yogi in 1978. Soon after, the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita. Always interested in philosophy, it was not until the late 80′s that I met my first Yoga teacher – in the Iyengar tradition. Subsequently, I went on to study with the International Yoga Teachers Association and gained my diploma. I was very fortunate to meet Mark Whitwell who was giving teachings in Sydney in 1994. Things then became clearer. We talked about the Yoga Sutras. I met TKV Desikachar in 1995 in Chennai and witnessed the love and respect of teacher and friend.

The importance of teaching Yoga that is specific to the individuals’ needs was explored. I have continued my teaching, classes and one-to-one. If I can assist enquiry of the student through the simple yet powerful act of connecting body, breath and mind – something can change for the better.”

Melanie GreenAdelaide, South Australia

“My own practice, understanding and teaching of Yoga has been profoundly influenced by my teacher Mark Whitwell, who taught me what real Yoga is, and the teachings of TKV Desikachar as passed on from the great Krishnamacharya. The principle focus of my teaching is to convey an authentic and relevant Yoga practice that is perfectly adapted to fit individual needs, whatever that person’s current state and stage of life may be. If you can breathe, you can do Yoga! The simple yet powerful technology of asana and pranayama – body and breath- applied in an intelligent and holistic sequence of steps, results in a clear mind, equanimity, flexibility and strength. We are able to stand firmly in our own ground, receptive to and participating fully in our experience of Life as it naturally given to every one of us. We are intimately connected in our relationship to ourselves and others. This is Yoga taught from the Heart to the Heart.”

Melanie is a certified Heart Of Yoga Teacher and teaches private students as well as group classes and is available for retreats and workshops anywhere in Australia.

Liisa Halme Sydney, Australia

Liisa has studied and practiced Yoga for the past 15 years with renowned teachers worldwide, including her long-term teacher and friend Mark Whitwell. Liisa completed her first Yoga Teacher Training in 2003 and since then has taught in various yoga centers and her private studio in London, on numerous Yoga retreats in Europe, Caribbean and Africa. She now shares her passion in Sydney Australia. Liisa has a very holistic approach to Yoga and is dedicated to helping people find their own personal practice, suitable for the individual. While living in London Liisa studied Yoga Therapy with the Yoga Biomedical Trust and began using the ancient practices of Yoga to help specific health issues. She is a member of Australian Association of Yoga therapists and a Registered Yoga Therapist #AD050842W.

Scott HelbronSydney, Australia

Scott has been studying and practicing yoga since 1997 and has since received professional training in various yoga styles and healing arts.

He teaches in the Krishnamacharya/Desikachar lineage, offering an authentic and appropriate yoga practice, that is relevant and respectful to each individuals situation and offers private yoga therapy programmes and yoga workshops to his students and clients.

Scott has also trained in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well as indepth study of Qigong, Taiji quan, and various body therapies such as Chinese Massage therapy and Thai Yoga massage.

Hamsa Hyder (BA, Dip Ed)Albany, Australia

Hamsa originally qualified as an Integral Yoga Assoc. and International Yoga Teachers Assoc. teacher. Hamsa has 30 years study and teaching experience. She lived and taught yoga at Sivananda Ashram (Fremantle) for 9 years where she was a student of Swami Venkatesananda (disciple of Sivananda). After Venkatesa’s death in 1982, Hamsa continued her yoga studies with Sri TKV Desikachar and other senior teachers from the Krishnamacarya Yoga Mandiram, Chennai India, including the study of vedic chant and yoga cikitsa (yoga therapy). In the mid-90s she met and traveled to India with Mark Whitwell to study & has continued to study with Mark in Perth, Melbourne & Bali. “Mark ‘opened a window’ and allowed the fresh air in to flow through the full expression of the yoga teachings in my life”. Since then she has considered herself a Heart of Yoga teacher. Hamsa has also been studying meditation and compassion under the guidance of Buddhist master, Sogyal Rinpoche for the past 15 years. She is founder of the Heart of Yoga & Compassion School and the Centre for Wisdom & Compassion Studies in Albany. She is the author of two CD/books – The Healing Sounds of Vedic Chant and Do Your Yoga Bless Your Life.

Catherine PotterBroulee, Australia

“The yoga I teach and practise is an eclectic mix of styles that have influenced me over the decades, including Heart of Yoga, Hatha, Iyengar and Vinyasa Flow. It incorporates conscious breath, energetics, inner focus, inner and outer strength, fluidity, flexibility, active and restorative poses, relaxation, connectedness, stillness and wellbeing. I trained as a yoga teacher as I wanted to share the joys and benefits of yoga with others. I have my own yoga studio on the south coast of NSW where I run regular classes and retreats.”

Patrick RyanSydney, Australia

“We are really living in exciting times, with amazing ancient technologies available to us for the first time. After more than a decade of exploring various explanations of Hatha Yoga, I feel the principles taught by Mark are simple, extraordinary, full of compassion, kindness, challenging, achievable and, I think, its ancient pure wisdom. Its an extremely effective form of Yoga and one that I love to practice daily.” Patrick teaches all along the East Coast of Australia.

Julia TingulstadMelbourne, Australia

Julia is a certified Heart of Yoga teacher, and has been mentored by her teacher Mark Whitwell over many years. Also a long-time student of Shiva Rea, she has studied yoga since her early teens and has been teaching classes and workshops since 2000 in her home country of Norway, and throughout Europe. She has also coordinated and taught retreats at her second home, Guatemala. She is currently studying chiropractic medicine at RMIT.

Julia’s interest in yoga was nurtured by her yogini mother at an early age and together they developed Tempel Yoga, a studio and style of yoga drawing on the teachings of T. Krishnamacharya and the healing system of Ayurveda. Combined with international travels and exposure to many cultures and environs, Julia adapts her classes to each teaching environment and to meet the individual requirements of her students, thus inspiring them to enrich their lives through the practice of yoga. Julia often incorporates the components of dance, flow and music into her classes.

Since 2004, Julia has managed the development of the Tempel Yoga business in Norway, coordinating and delivering teacher training programs, workshops, business yoga and private yoga consultations. Integral to her family’s businesses centered on multi-faceted holistic health services, she has extensive experience and understanding of the benefits achieved through combining yoga with traditional and alternative methods of healing and health improvement.

NEW ZEALAND

Vincent Boletta Auckland, New Zealand

Vincent has been teaching and practicing yoga since 1991 and has also been involved with the health and wellness industry as a fitness consultant for the same period. His area of interest lies in structural rehabilitation and integration using the methodology of Yoga asanas, Pranayama and a variety of other bodywork methodologies. Vincent was introduced to Yoga while travelling and working in England by mentor and friend Steve Sharp. On his return to New Zealand he continued his studies in Yoga with a two year teacher training course under Mike Byron-McKay and The New Zealand School of Yoga.

Vincent has subsequently trained with numerous teachers incorporating a broad range of Yoga styles. Most recently he spent time with Gary Kraftsow and The American Viniyoga Institute and regularly travels abroad from New Zealand to encompass different traditions and thoughts on Yoga.

Christine Callanan Lake Wanaka, New Zealand

Christine set up the Wanaka Yoga Centre in 2003, after having studied Structural Integration and Yoga Therapy with Arvind Pujji, Arvind came from a family immersed in devotional yoga and was a student of Anand Baba from Vrindaven, India, who was a spiritual teacher who taught with and about love, being present and being in service to the world.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to have had this energy imbibed in my time with Arvind. To me this was the spirit of yoga. I first came to yoga as a 13yr old insomniac, and practiced many styles over the years, but to me the most profound opportunity in yoga is the return home. To travel deep inside, riding the breath, staying connected to the animating force in the body. I have had deeper more profound opening in my body and spirit from surrendering to the breath, ( which is dynamic) than any amount of “trying to do anything”. Hence I totally resonated with Mark’s teaching. I’m inspired to offer a space for people to connect more deeply to themselves and through that, the universe.”

Christine currently offers retreats and workshops in Wanaka, Thailand and Bali.

Sami ChestertonChristchurch, New Zealand

“For me yoga is a humbling, nurturing and strength building process that never ceases nor ceases to surprise both when practicing and teaching.

I love to pass on Heart of Yoga principles and now teach in the outskirts of Christchurch. I enjoy teaching people of all abilities and ages and it is always a delight to teach at my children’s school. The group of 6, 7 and 8yr olds are so receptive and positive –it is fun and they are so enthusiastic. Thank you Anna de Zeeuw and Mark for your friendship, support, encouragement, guidance and wisdom. It is a pleasure to pass on the gift that is Heart of Yoga."

Barbara ColeyAuckland, New Zealand

Having practiced many styles of yoga over the years, Barbara’s own practice and understanding of yoga has changed and deepened as she has come to understand the Yoga of Krishnamacharya, both through her dear friend Mark Whitwell and her teachers A.G. and Indra Mohan of Svastha Yoga & Ayurveda, Chennai, India.

Barbara is the director of Svastha Yoga New Zealand located in Mt Eden, Auckland where she teaches a range of classes and presents an IYA registered 200 hour Teacher Training program. Barbara has a deep interest in Yoga Therapy particularly in the area of women’s health.

Anna de ZeeuwSouth Island, New Zealand

Anna was introduced to yoga in 1998 and subsequently practiced and trained as a teacher in several of the contemporary styles. However, meeting Mark in 2006 and feeling the resonance of the ancient and timeless teachings that he shares, deeply touched Anna and completely transformed her Yoga. Mark now visits the South Island of New Zealand annually, where Anna lives with her partner Steve and daughter Charlotte. What has grown beautifully over these years are nourishing communities that come together and practice, and individuals who lovingly embrace their home practice.

Anthea HillChristchurch, New Zealand

I currently teach classes in my local seaside community, offer yoga one-on-one as a therapy to individuals with health sensitivities and continue to work part time nursing in Acute General Medicine. I teach Yoga from my heart as I have felt the truth of this ancient wisdom in my daily practice and in my own life.

Steve WhiteAuckland, New Zealand

Steve’s yoga journey started in the late 70′s when everyone was illuminated by BKS Iyengar’s amazing oracle book “Light on Yoga”. In the late 90’s he embraced K Pattabhi Jois’s Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and finally found his path when a friend invited him to join a Shiva Rea Yoga Flow Retreat in Greece in 2005.

He is a Registered 200 hr Yoga Alliance Teacher but has gone on to complete over 550 hours of Teacher Training mainly in Ubud, Los Angeles, Santorini, Fiji and Costa Rica. He is continually amazed at how much he doesn’t know.

Steve discovered the Yoga Sanctuary in 2009 and liked it so much that he bought into it in 2010. He describes his style as “moving meditation with breath and a smile” or more seriously as Krishnamacharya Prana Vinyasa (Flow) but he honours all styles and all teachers of Yoga.

Nick Wilson Auckland, New Zealand

“Nick has unearthed the essence of yoga practice. In his commitment to teaching an authentic yoga, he has explored and investigated various avenues including the sincere students of the great Krishnamacharya; TKV Desikachar, AG Mohan and Srivatsa Ramaswami. His work in developing “The Heart of Yoga Teaching Manual” provided the basis for the technical section in my book. He really cares about people and understands how to apply yoga practice to each individual. He can help you, no matter your situation, practice an authentic, pleasurable yoga.” Mark Whitwell / Director of Heart of Yoga Association International & author of “Yoga of Heart.”

INDONESIA

Tina NanceBali, Indonesia

Tina is an Australian yoga & dance meditation teacher who has been practising Yoga for over 13years & teaching yoga & movement meditation around the globe, for the past 8years, in classes, workshops, retreats & teacher trainings. Tina is deeply passionate about creating opportunities for people of all backgrounds to connect directly & experientially with their bodymind & Spirit. She has spent well over a decade travelling, exploring a myriad of spiritual traditions & practices, & studying yoga & the healing arts. Tina works within the understanding that all contractions of the bodymind, are a manifestation of the misalignment of our thoughts & behaviours with the truth of who we are. Tina’s yoga classes are therefore focused on unravelling our body’s contractions with guided awareness. Cultivating the art of deep presence, sensory awareness & conscious breath within each asana, exploring all eight limbs of yoga simultaneously, on the mat. Connecting to our innate divine essence that is our natural state. present in each breath, & merging our body’s, mind’s & Spirit as One.

Tina has travelled & taught throughout Australia, Europe, America & Asia, & is currently living & teaching in Bali, Indonesia.

Heart of Yoga

Mark Whitwell is interested in developing anauthentic yoga practice for the individual, based on the teachings of T. Krishnamacharya and his son TKV Desikachar, with whom he enjoyed a relationship for more than twenty years. Mark’s teachings clarify the profound passion and relevance of ancient wisdom to contemporary life.

For the past twenty-five years, Mark has travelled the globe teaching yoga to thousands of people. He was the editor and contributor to TKV Desikachar’s book The Heart of Yoga, and is the author of The Yoga of Heart and The Promise of Love, Sex and Intimacy.

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